A bereaved father blogging for catharsis... and for distraction. Accordingly, you'll see a diverse set of topics and posts here, from the affecting to the analytical to the absurd. Something for everyone, but all, at the core, meeting a personal need.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Musical Monday #130

Welcome to the 130th edition of Musical Monday, the weekly quiz that Soccer Dad and I alternate hosting. As always, the challenge is to identify the title and artist of each song quote below, as well as the common theme of the entire set of songs.

Thare are two separate sub-themes today, songs 1-10 and 11-20, which together comprise the overall theme. The songs in the first group are also in somewhat of a sequence. I was disappointed in not finding more songs for that group; likely there are quite a few recent ones I don't know well that would fit it.

1) "I died in thirty days!"2) "But it seems the good they die young"3) "Edsel is a no-go"4) "Bring on the lions and open the cage"5) "I laid traps for troubadours"6) "She never kept the same address"7) "They sat and watched TV, on their RCA"8) "We're finally on our own"9) "Scanning life through the picture window"10) "It's money for dope, money for rope"

11) "If the puppet makes you smile"12) "Coming down like an Armageddon flame"13) "And it makes me feel so fine, I can't control my brain"14) "Just one day out of life, it would be, it would be so nice"15) "Exchange the cold days for the sun"16) "Take a ride on a West Coast kick"17) "We've all seen it on the movies, now let's see if it's true"18) "But there's a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze"19) "From a terminal gate to a black limousine"20) "He was heading for Pennsylvania, and some home made pumpkin pie"

1) "I died in thirty days!"2) Abraham, Martin and John - Dion3) We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel4) "Bring on the lions and open the cage"5) Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones6) Killer Queen - Queen7) "They sat and watched TV, on their RCA"8) Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young9) "Scanning life through the picture window"10) "It's money for dope, money for rope"

11) Holiday - The Bee Gees12) "Coming down like an Armageddon flame"13) Island in the Sun - Weezer14) Holiday - Madonna15) "Exchange the cold days for the sun"16) Holiday Road - Lindsey Buckingham17) "We've all seen it on the movies, now let's see if it's true"18) "But there's a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze"19) Holiday Inn - Elton John20) "He was heading for Pennsylvania, and some home made pumpkin pie"

Bonus tracks:

Y1) "And even all the grass skirts were PVC"

T1) We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover, from AnnieT2) "We're zany to the max"

D1) "We're gettin' safer cars, rocket ships to Mars"D2) "’cause four guys from England took us all by the hand"D3) "He bought a washing machine and then a Chevrolet"

Nice job, Soccer Dad, SJ, TRN, Clayton, Jack, Yitzchak, and Laura! Together, you IDed 10 of the songs, as well as the theme, which was Presidents + Holiday. This was of course a rather obvious theme for Presidents Day, but as the first, anonymous commentator surmised, my true motive for choosing this theme was as an excuse to use a rarely-heard song like "Abraham, Martin and John" for three consecutive weeks and three different reasons! (And secondarily, so I could use five songs with the same exact title for part two!)

The full set of correct responses, with the president(s) for each song in the first group listed:

1) "I died in thirty days!""The Mediocre Presidents", from The Simpsons (Taylor, Tyler, Fillmore, Hayes, and William Henry Harrison)2) "But it seems the good they die young""Abraham, Martin and John", Dion (Lincoln and JFK)3) "Edsel is a no-go""We Didn't Start The Fire", Billy Joel (Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, and Nixon)4) "Bring on the lions and open the cage" "Give The People What They Want", The Kinks (JFK)5) "I laid traps for troubadours""Sympathy For The Devil", Rolling Stones (JFK)6) "She never kept the same address""Killer Queen", Queen (JFK)7) "They sat and watched TV, on their RCA""Harvey and Sheila", Allan Sherman (JFK)8) "We're finally on our own""Ohio", CSNY (Nixon)9) "Scanning life through the picture window""Young Americans", David Bowie (Nixon)10) "It's money for dope, money for rope""Gimme Some Truth", John Lennon (Nixon)

11) "If the puppet makes you smile""Holiday", The Bee Gees12) "Coming down like an Armageddon flame""Holiday", Green Day13) "And it makes me feel so fine, I can't control my brain""Holiday", Weezer14) "Just one day out of life, it would be, it would be so nice""Holiday", Madonna15) "Exchange the cold days for the sun""Holiday", The Scorpions16) "Take a ride on a West Coast kick""Holiday Road", Lindsey Buckingham17) "We've all seen it on the movies, now let's see if it's true""Summer Holiday", Cliff Richard18) "But there's a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze""Holiday in Spain", Counting Crows19) "From a terminal gate to a black limousine""Holiday Inn", Elton John20) "He was heading for Pennsylvania, and some home made pumpkin pie""Home for the Holidays", Various